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Ben and Lon
Ben and Lon are two settlers and supporting characters in Pocahontas. Background Ben and Lon are two of the settlers that travel to the New World with the Virginia Company. The two appear to be close friends (despite Ben occasionally insulting Lon) and are usually seen together. Both are familiar with the reputation of John Smith and are fairly loyal to him. Ben has black hair and a shaven face, while Lon has red hair and a beard. Both are pleasant and cheerful men, although Lon is notably more enthusiastic and fun-loving, whereas Ben will not suffer fools gladly. Appearances ''Pocahontas Ben and Lon first appear as two of the crew members on the ship that is headed towards the New World. The two meet Thomas, a young man who wants to seek his fortune, and discuss the fact that the legendary John Smith would be on the voyage. Ben notes John's reputation for fighting savages; in his view, he cannot fight Indians without him. During the voyage, Ben and Lon are seen tying off cannons during a storm. When Thomas falls overboard, Smith rescues him in a daring move. Ben openly calls Smith crazy, but he and Lon assist in the rescue by pulling Smith and Thomas back to the ship with a rope. Back on the ship, both men compliment Smith. John Smith replies that they would surely do the same for him; Ben and Lon hesitate for a moment, but quickly answer in the affirmative. At the New World, Ben and Lon are some of the first settlers to go on shore. Lon is amazed by the New World, while Ben is happy just to get off the boat. On shore, Ben and Lon are tasked with digging for gold. When they fail to find anything, Ben and Lon begin to complain, with Ben becoming mildly confrontational. However, they are interrupted when Governor Ratcliffe's dog, Percy, discovers some Indians to which they mistakenly believe are ambushing them and rush to grab muskets and fight. Ratcliffe shoots an Indian named Namontack in the leg; Ben tries to kill the wounded Namontack with his gun but is stopped from finishing the job by Kocoum who kicks Ben away. Later on, Thomas notes that John Smith is acting differently. Lon attributes Smith's behavior to the fact that he missed the fight, and begins to sing about their achievements. However, Ben is in a bad mood because they've been searching for gold for hours without any food while Ratcliffe is in his tent, "happy as a clam." When Ratcliffe comes looking for Smith, Ben and Lon realize that he has disappeared. Ratcliffe tasks the two with finding him. Ben and Lon eventually arrive at the glade of Grandmother Willow, who is helping to hide Smith, as well as Pocahontas. Grandmother Willow is able to spook the two men, and the two quickly flee, with Ben insisting that John can take care of himself. When Smith returns to camp, Lon and Ben reveal that they were looking for him, but before Smith can answer them Ratcliffe appears asking Smith about his whereabouts. John Smith gives the excuse that he was scouting the terrain. When Ratcliffe reveals that he plans to fight the Indians, Smith protests, much to the surprise of Ben and Lon. Smith reveals that he met an Indian (Pocahontas), that he had food, and that there was no gold in Virginia. When Ben and Lon hear that there is no gold they start to question Ratcliffe, but Ratcliffe insists that the Indians have the gold. Later as Smith sneaks out of the camp Ben, Lon, and the other settlers are wondering if Ratcliffe has lied to them and there is no gold or if the Indians have the gold and they'll have to fight them. When Ben and Lon hear from Thomas that John has been captured, both men agree that some sort of rescue should be attempted. Ratcliffe takes advantage of the situation and prepares for an all out war against the Indians. The next morning, Ben and Lon are among the soldiers preparing to fight. They are surprised when John is released thanks to Pocahontas. Though Ratcliffe wishes to start the war anyway, both Ben and Lon point out that Smith is free and the Indians don't want to fight. They witness Ratcliffe (who was aiming for Chief Powhatan) shoot Smith, and believe that it was intentional, now realizing that Smith was right after all and they shouldn't have listened to Ratcliffe in the first place. They assist the other settlers in apprehending Ratcliffe. Thomas then orders them and the rest to chain him up and gag him. At the end of the film, it is revealed that Lon plans to stay behind in Jamestown with Thomas to carry out the settlement, as he is heard wishing good luck to Smith, who must return to England for medical treatment. Presumably, Ben decides to return to London to get Smith to get cured, as he is seen rowing the wounded Smith back to the ship which leaves for London. Neither Ben nor Lon are seen or mentioned in the sequel, ''Pocahontas II: Journey to a New World. Thus, it is unknown what happened to them. Presumably, Lon is still carrying out the settlement with Thomas, while Ben is still in London. ''The Hunchback of Notre Dame Lon makes a cameo in ''The Hunchback of Notre Dame. He appears during the song "Topsy Turvy" sitting at a table and drinking a beer with another man. Trivia *Ben was originally supposed to be English, however attempting a London accent hurt Billy Connolly's throat so the actor chose to use his native accent instead and Ben became Scottish. Connolly's other Disney animated film character King Fergus in Pixar's 2012 film Brave is entirely Scottish. *Both Lon and Ben observe John Smith's execution with other English colonists in this animated film. In real life, there were no Englishmen observing the incident when Pocahontas rescued Smith. Smith was the only Englishman in Chief Powhatan's village. Category:Characters Category:Disney characters Category:Pocahontas characters Category:Males